A hacker transferred Dh1.8 million from a bank account of an American man in the United States to a financial services company in Dubai to invest the money in stock markets, a Dubai court heard in a case.
The unknown hacker managed to get access to the bank account from Seattle in March 2013 and transferred $500,000 (Dh1,8m) in three installments to the company's bank account in Dubai before an unidentified man managed to cash some of the profits after claiming he was the American national.
When the American came to know about it, he contacted the financial company in Dubai to reclaim the money but the company refused to return the money.
The American legal consultant, Hassan Elhais filed a civil case against the company in Dubai to force the company to return the money.
He proved to Dubai Civil Court that both his client and the financial services company have not committed any criminal act and that an unidentified cyber-attack on the client's account caused the problem.
An auditor was appointed by the civil court to determine the source of the money and the conditions in which it was transferred to the company in Dubai. The auditor's report confirmed according to the documents provided, that the American national rightfully owns the money and did not authorise the transfer of $250,000 from the total transferred amount which is $500,000.
The report stated that the other half of the amount was transferred to a third party, who in turn transferred it to the company. It was proved that this third party, who also remains unknown, used a power of attorney allegedly given to him by the American national which lawyer Elhais said was fake.
The report said that a cybercrime had taken place and the American man should lodge a criminal report for an investigation to be carried out in relation to charges of impersonation and forgery.
Dubai Civil Court ordered the financial company to repay an amount of $250,000 which according to the audit's report were not transferred on an authorisation from the American victim.
They were also ordered to pay the man a nine per cent interest on the amount from the date of his legal claim in September 2016.
Also published in:
The National
Related Links
Criminal Law Informative Videos
